Surprising result for sprinters in Modesto at Tour of California

The highly touted HTC-Columbia team appeared disorganized in the closing miles and wasn't able to set up its typical lead-out train for star sprinter Cavendish until a few hundred yards before the finish.

Chicchi (Liquigas) and Haedo (Saxo Bank) also appeared near the front and took advantage of the apparent confusion. QuickStep did a lot of the work at the front of the peloton for Tom Boonen, but he wasn't a factor in the finish.

Meanwhile, overall leader David Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) finished comfortably in the main group and retained the yellow jersey. He'll wear it for the second day on Stage 5 from Visalia to Bakersfield, which is also expected to end in a mass sprint.

Breakaway

A breakaway of five riders developed early in the 121.5-mile stage from San Jose to Modesto. Four of them — Lars Boom (Rabobank Cycling Team), Jurgen Van De Walle (Quick Step), Robert Britton (Bissell), and Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda) — survived into the coastal range of mountains and had up to 7 minutes on the peloton.

Coming back down the other side into the flat Central Valley, however, the HTC-Columbia, Garmin, RadioShack and Liquigas teams accelerated and started bringing back the break.

A crash created a gap in the peloton with about 22 miles to go. Zabriskie and the other leaders were able to make the jump to the front of the splintered peloton, which soon reorganized then set about reeling in the breakaway.

When the chasers narrowed the gap to about a minute, they let the break hang out front all the way into Modesto. Boom survived alone out front until about 6 miles from the finish line. His capture prompted a couple of riders from Rabobank to attack the peloton, but their surges were short-lived.

Lance Armstrong, who sits in 12th overall and is supporting RadioShack teammate Levi Leipheimer (in third place), got caught in a small crash near the finish of the stage. Since it was inside 3 kilometers, however, he received the same finish time as the rest.

This was Chicchi's sixth win of the year. He's had single wins at the Tour of Missouri in 2008 and 2009.

Top 10 after Stage 4

1. David Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions)

2. Michael Rogers (HTC Columbia) – 4 seconds behind

3. Levi Leiphiemer (RadioShack) – 6 seconds

4. Peter Sagan (Liquigas) – 21seconds

5. Marc  DeMaar (UnitedHealthCare) – 24 seconds

6. Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) – 27 seconds

7. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin) – 27 seconds

8. Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthCare) – 27 seconds

9. Tom Danielson (Garmin) – 27 seconds

10. Peter Stetina (Garmin) – 27 seconds